Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-06-11

oAN iidNCu ~ Ol LIS L3AS AShNA-
man next made an effort for the trinket;
but as had not bought it for myself, of
course | could not sell it, and we left the
shop.
Ny mind was clear now as to the pru-
dence of giving ESQ for the diamond. |
had heard the best jeweler in the town
otferr 5000 francs or fl20 for it.
Well, must say you have acted most
we reached the street. After all, bar
never promised to buy the ring so you had
perfect legal right to sell it TO the French
man.
90 You needn't say any more stranger
said the Yankee, as if he were tired of the
subject. You can hev the stone now, if
you choose, at the price We fixed on last
night, and he held the ring out to me.
But | had to get my letters of credit
| cashed, and | agreed to meet the Ameri-
can in the biIliard-room in an hours time
and conclude the transaction.
No one was in the billiard-room when
| entered it for it was still early in the
day. except the American, who was stand
ing by the empty fireplace. The transfer
! did not occupy more than five seconds, and
the Yankee Immediately proposed drinks
These being discussed, we separated, and
saw no more of my friend from the States
that day
THAT evening after dinner happened
to be sitting not far from the fireplace in
the billiard-room, when noticed small
round object lying Just inside the marble
fender. Curious to know what it was
left my seat and picked ii up. 1t was a
| jewelers. ring case-not an uncommon ar
ticle, certainly, yet hardly the sort of
thing one often sees on the floor of bill
! llard-room.
Suddenly remembered that the
American had been standing close to the
! spot where | found ii, when earlier in the
day | exchanged my 1000 francs worth of
notes for his diamond. An uncomfortable
feeling crossed my mind What did he
want with a ring-case? He had been
wearing the ring he sold to me. He might
have kept case for it, Of course, and
might have thrown it away when he
parted with the ring yet that seemed an
unusual sort of thing for him to do.
opened the case. The makers name
was inscribed in gilt letters inside the lid
and the address given was Paris. Paris ?
said | to myself. He said the ring was
bought in Brazil There was no real
ground for suspicion, vet was uneasy. |
went up stairs and took out the ring
The pattern-you see it is a peculiar one
i remembered we'll Somehow Judged
or fancied, that the diamond did not shine
as brightly as it had done the night before.
Next morning | took the ring TO a sec
ond jeweler, and asked his opinion as to its
value. He examined the diamond care
fully, and laid it down on the glass case be-
fore him with one contemptuous word
90 Pastep
"' Paste l echoed 'ImpoSsibler
Certainly paste, and very good imi-
tation,' he replied, turning away
"My heart sank within me. Eighty
pounds was a sum / could i'll afford to lose
1t meant a summary end to my holidays,
not to speak of embarrassments that would
last some time.
with faint hope that the second ex-
pert had been mistaken, took the ring to
the jeweler who had offered the American
5000 francs for it.
He seemed pleased to see me, but as
soon as he had glanced at the ring his face
changed.
This is not the same ring you showed
me yesterday he said in tone that made
it plain that he thought | meant to cheat
him. AT least he added, it is not the
same stone. This is not stone at all it
is pa paste te , ,.,, ,... ..,,,, A
Are you sure the jewel showed you yes
terday was genuine diamond? p
"' am certain Of it, he answered
The honorable conduct las ! had
thought it, Of the stranger in refusing to
sell to the ieweler was now ineligible.
The jeweler meant to keep the real stone.
1t was not difficult to see how the fraud
had been managed. The swindler had had
two rings made exactly alike of a striking
and peculiar pattern. In one of them he
had placed 4 genuine and very fine dia-
mond. This was the decoy. In the other
he had put n false diamond, closely re-
sembliHg in size and shape the genuine one
in the first ring. The one he wore and
offered TO sell was the true stone. When
he got it back from the jeweler he had kept
II and had given me the sham one in ex-
change for my ESQ. What was to do?
The first thing was to ascertain whether
my friend had left the hotel. Of course
he had-on the afternoon of the previous
day; still, the scent was so hot, fancied
should have little difficulty in tracing
him. But when ! found him, my difficulties
would only begin. OF course he would
swear that he had sold me the ring with
the stone which the ieweler had declared
to be genuine. | might, conceivablv, have
substituted paste for the true gem as well
as he. In any case, when | thought of the
difficulty of getting back my money from
an American wandering about Europe, my
heart sank within me. Even if the police
consented to help me, taking my word
against his, even if the rogue were con-
victed, how was | to recover the 1000
francs?
These thoughts passed through my
mind as | hurried back to the hotel Ger
tainly the prospect was gloomy enough.
easily ascertained that the American
had taken the train for Paris the day be-
fore, and | determined to follow him at
once. did not despair OF finding him, as
he would probably put up at one of the
good hotels.
"On the way up to Paris | could ihinl,
of nothing but my loss. This fellow /
saw had hit upon very safe and profitable
method of swindling. In nine cases out
of ten the cheated man would not discover
his loss for years after he had seen the
American, If, indeed, the trick was dis
covered at all, for the paste was good
enough to deceive a casual observer. and
the owner would, of course, be actuated by
profound faith in his diamond straight |
from Brazil Had il not been for the Incl
dent of my finding the ring case. which !
the rogue had accidentally dropped, |
should in all probability have unwittingly |
cheated poor Turenne out of his money. |
and he might afterwards have been sup
posed to be trying to palm off a spurious
diamond for real gem. In all probability
the fellow made living-and a very good |
one-by going about Europe and practic-
ing this trick.
This idea sent of my thoughts on |
new track, and by the time | had arrived |
in Paris | had decided upon my course of
action.
" First of all | made careful inquiries at |
the railway station as to tall American |
who had arrived from Nice by certain |
train on preceding day and, by the help |
of some iive-franc pieces, / found the cab |
man who had driven him to his hotel-the !
Continental
This being aseertained, chose a quiet. |
unpretending hotel for myself near one of |